Top Disasters and Accidents Articles

COSTA MESA — There was no money to buy a ladle large enough to stir a 30-gallon pot in the beginning years of Someone Cares Soup Kitchen, so founder Merle Hatleberg used a boat oar.
People were hungry, and the late Hatleberg wasn't one to back down...

COSTA MESA — Ears perked up last month when city officials mentioned during a City Council budget study session that Costa Mesa had made a $6 million settlement related to a car crash.
Residents, workers and the usual council critics wondered...

For Valerie Schomburg, animals are more than a job.
She has worked with the Newport Beach Police Department's animal control unit for 10 years, but often uses vacation days to help animals who have been separated from their families because of natural...

NEWPORT BEACH — World War II veteran Bert Melvin served in 10 major battles during his three years in the Pacific.
He shot kamikaze pilots out of the sky, dug mass graves in Okinawa and patrolled Nagasaki only a month after the U.S. dropped its...

The funeral for a San Bernardino County deputy from Irvine who was killed in a traffic collision last week on Shady Canyon Drive will take place Wednesday morning in Rancho Cucamonga.
On Friday, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department...

If asked, most real estate agents will tell you that one of the most commonly asked questions is about the quality and location of the local schools — an important question, to be sure.
Don Abrams, of Abrams Coastal Properties on Balboa Island,...

COSTA MESA — James Toporcer woke up early Thursday morning to a banging on his door and a voice yelling, "James, let's go!"
"I woke up and the room was pretty warm," Toporcer said. "It was too warm to grab stuff."
A fire that allegedly started...

Ukulele player Bill Tapia, who was a regular participant in the OASIS Senior Center's ukulele club, died Friday in his Westminster home. He was 103 and died peacefully in his sleep, his website states.
"With a career that spanned over 90 years, he was...

A pile of debris caused a house fire Monday in Newport Beach that stopped traffic and caused $20,000 worth in damages, authorities said.
Firefighters responded to a call from a neighbor reporting a fire in the 200 block of East Balboa Boulevard about 2:...

The Newport Harbor High School senior who was hit by a car driven by an allegedly intoxicated woman remained in critical condition Wednesday, school officials said.
Crystal Morales, 17, was placed in a physician-induced coma at Western Medical Center in...

Newport Beach firefighters responded to 20 emergency calls Sunday, including a multivehicle collision and residential fires.
Firefighters went to a crash about 3:46 p.m. Sunday on Jamboree Road involving multiple vehicles, according to a news release...